Self-draining oil can



Oct. 16, 1928. 1,687,583

S. E. NORD SELF-DRAINING OIL CAN Filed Sept. 18, 1926 v INVENTOR Ewan E.4 01" I BY 1% ATTORNEY Patented Get. 16, 1928.

UNITED- STA TES SWAN E. Nomi, 0: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON;

SELE-LDRAINING on. CAN.-

Application filed September 18, 1926. Serial No. 136,326.

My invention has particular reference to improvements in the type of cancommonly used by Wholesalers of lubricating oil in making deliveries tothe retail trade. practice is, to transport oil for this purpose in cansof asize which permits them to be conveniently handled. The standard canthus used has a capacity of live gallons, and is provided in its bodyportion with a plurality of circumferential corrugations designed to addrigidity thereto, but which obviously afford oil-retaining recessesinteriorly of the can.

In making deliveries from these cans, I have found, owing to theviscosity of the oil, said corrugations, and the time ordinarilyallotted for pouring, that approximately three-fourths of a pint ofoilis left in each can afterthe same is deemed to be empty, with the resultthat the purchaser is deprived of a quantity of oil to which he isentitled,

and apparently without the fault of the seller. As many thousands ofthese cans are thus emptied daily, the ultimate loss to purchasers isenormous.

The main object of'my inventionis, to practically eliminate this loss,and in furtherance of said object, I provide a can of. this character,rigid in construction yet free of said corrugations, having a bottomportion of a form which allows the residue of the oil to drain quicklyinto an auxiliary and special I receptacle communicating therewith, and

from whence it can be readily deposited into the container desired. 7

In the accompanying draw1ng- Figure 1 is an elevation of the devicecomplete, its lower portion being partly broken now in operativeposition for discharging any residue of oil therefrom.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the device comprises acylindrical body portion 1, in which the corrugations referred to havebeen dispensed with. The top sections of the can 2 and 3, the cover 4,and the handle 5, present the usual construction found in cansof thistype; The lower bottom,.designated as 6, is disposed somewhat above thebase 7, so as to provide a housing for parts heretofore referred to butwhich presently will be described with more particularity.

A double bottom 10,: in the formof a hollow, truncated and inverted coneisfastened tothe body of the can,:its smallerend being disposedadjacent. said bottom 6. An auxiliary oil receptacle extends through thebottom 6, is secured to said. end of the bottom 10 and establishescommunication for oil therewith Said receptacle is provided with acylindrical body aortion 11, which terminates at one end in a flaredsection 12, alfording a strong connecting element between the bottom 10and the body, of the receptacle, and terminates at the other end in anexteriorly threaded section 13. i V

A cap 14: for the receptacle, adapted to threadedly engage the section13 and having a leather washer 15 to make is oiltight, is

provided with a circumferential groove 16, I

in which is rotatably mounted a ring 17, having an eye 1S',-carrying achain 19. A memher, having a flat body portion 20, terminating at oneend in a hook 21, is secured to the bottom 6. It serves, through itsfastening elements, to support one end of said chain and a keeper 22 forthe hook, said keeper being made of spring material. The chain, as isevident, is for the purpose of retaining the cap to the can so it willnot be misplaced, and the hook and keeper are designed to carry andretain the cap, through said eye, as shown in Fig. 3," when the cap isremoved from the receptacle.

The utilization of the device is quite obvione When the oil has beenpoured from the can in the usual manner and the can left standing on itsbase, the elimination of the corrugations mentioned and the oil-retainmgrecesses incident to a can having the ordinary horizontal bottom, andthe provision,

of a smooth inner surface terminating in the flared bottom,will permitthe residue offthe oil to flow toward and be quickly collected in saidreceptacle and in the bottom 10 adjacent thereto. The can is than placedover a suitable container, the cap removed from the receptacleand hungon the hook,'as shown in Fig. 3,when practically all of theoil remainingin the can will be deposited in the con- I often a number of these cansare emptied at one delivery, and deliveriesof other products are made,thus affording the short time necessary for the residue of the oil tocollect and be transferred as just described. If desired, however,immediately after the contents are poured from the can the cap can beremoved and the residue of the oil allowed to drip directly into saidcontainer.

Under the present construction, the bottom 10, in addition to thefunction already described, serves to add rigidity to the body of thecan, and the fact that the bottom 6 aiiords support for the bottom 10,also increases the stability of the structure. I contemplate that,preferably, this can shall have a capacity for oil the same as thestandard cans heretofore mentioned. 7

Vhile I have shown, one embodiment of the invention, 1 may, however,provide other arrangements and constructions for carrying out the samewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as definedby the appended cla ims,

her, in the form of a hollow, truncated and inverted cone, its smallerend axially aligned with said opening, an auxiliary receptacle for oilextending through said opening and secured to said end of thesecond-named me1n ber, and an oil-tight cap .threadedly engaged with thefree end of the "receptacle.

- 2. A self-draining oil can, comprising a container, a horizontalbottom membertherefor, a double'bottom secured within the contamer,converging downwardly to an outlet,

an auxiliaryv receptacle for oil extending through the member, one endsecured to the outlet and adapted to establish communica tion for oiltherebetween, itsother end, tree and open, extending below the member, adetachable cap for the free and open end, a sec ond member secured tothe first member and exteriorly'thereor", carrying at oneend a hook,provided with a keeper, and a flexible connectionbetween the other endof the second member and the cap.

3. A. self-draining oil can, comprising a container, a horizontal bottommember disposed above the base of the container to provide a housingbetween the base and the member, a second bottom member, disposed abovethe first-named member, defining a hollow, inverted cone, an auxiliaryreceptacle for oil extending through the first member and secured to andadapted to establish communication for oil with the second member, adetachable closure for the free end of the receptacle, and means forsuspending the closure within the housing.

4. A self-draining can for viscous liquids, comprising a container, amouth to the container for dispensing said liquids, a flared bottommember, disposed above the base of the container and converging into andcommunicating with a drainage receptacle, said receptacle being disposedwithin the base and adapted to catch the residue of oil remaining in thecontainer after pouring the contents therefrom, and a detachableclosurefor the receptacle. 7 c, SWAN E. NORD.

